Chapter 56: National Team Debut
In Spain, inside the office of the national team head coach, Bosque.
The esteemed coach Bosque, who led Spain to World Cup and European Cup victories, was currently watching a match recording with his assistant coach, Toni.
They weren't concerned about the match's outcome but were focused on the performance of the player wearing the green number 10 jersey.
After watching the video, assistant coach Toni's eyes sparkled with excitement as he said to Bosque, "My friend, this guy is tailor-made for our national team. With him, we can solve the issue of lacking attacking firepower in the front!"
Bosque smiled and gestured for his enthusiastic partner not to get too carried away.
While he acknowledged that the number 10 player from Werder Bremen was indeed a perfect fit for the current tactics of the Spanish national team, Bosque couldn't help but feel the player was a bit too young!
He had heard that the player was not even 17 years old yet. Bringing someone so young into the national team as a key player might provoke criticism, even if he was a championship-winning coach. The media backlash could be fierce!
"Even though he's good, he's just a bit too young. Bringing him in abruptly might cause trouble. You know how troublesome the journalists here can be, right?"
Seeing Bosque's hesitation, assistant coach Toni came up with a compromise: "How about this? We let him join the U-21 team first and see how he copes with their matches. If he adapts well and performs excellently, then we can include him in the senior national team without facing too much criticism!"
Bosque nodded in agreement, seeing it as a good idea, and delegated the matter to Toni.
After finishing the match against Hamburg, the next round of the Bundesliga was two weeks away.
Lin thought he would have a long break, but to his surprise, a call from the Spanish Football Association informed him to report to the U-21 team.
Lin didn't mind playing for the national team, but since they had never called him up before, his national team history was still blank.
Even though they asked him to report to the U-21 team and not the national team, for his age, playing for the U-21 team was already quite good. The national team? He hadn't considered it for now.
He believed Bosque wouldn't be interested in him, considering the wealth of talent in the Spanish national team.
With so many stars, why would they choose an unknown newcomer like him?
Moreover, playing against weaker opponents with the U-21 team felt better than sitting on the bench with the national team.
He quickly packed his things and rushed back to Spain to report to the U-21 team.
In this edition of the Spanish U-21 team, there were many young players from top La Liga clubs, such as Real Madrid's Morata and Nacho, Barcelona's Thiago, Tello, Montoya, Bartra, Muniesa, as well as key players from Malaga like Isco, a top contender for the Golden Boy award this year.
Most of these players were regular starters or key players for their clubs in La Liga or Segunda Division. They may not be as famous as the players in the national team, but their skills were not inferior.
It's safe to say they were a cut above the rest among the youth teams of various European countries.
Similar to the national team, the spine of the Spanish U-21 team was built around Barcelona players.
Since Lin also came through La Masia youth academy, he quickly adapted to the team's tactical system after joining, feeling right at home.
After a few days of training together, Lin realized that his U-21 teammates, although young, were actually stronger than his club teammates.
Although they were not as old, their skills surpassed those of his club teammates, and they showed greater potential and talent.
What they lacked was just experience in matches.
With stronger teammates, Lin felt much more relaxed during matches. Whenever he found space, his teammates would pass the ball to him immediately.
The system at Barcelona was designed for Messi. Lin, replicating Messi's attributes, felt like a fish in water in this system!
With the increased support, he shone in intra-team matches, scoring five goals effortlessly in just half a game.
Moreover, having started out as a defensive midfielder and with Messi's organizing abilities, he occasionally played the role of an attacking midfielder, linking the team's attacking force and supplying ammunition to other teammates.
After providing some assists to Morata, who immediately became friends with Lin, without caring about their clubs being league rivals, it was the Barcelona players who showed some indifference towards Lin, displaying a sense of rejection.
However, they didn't let this attitude affect their teamwork on the field; when Lin needed the ball, they passed it without hesitation.
Lin didn't mind; he suspected these guys probably thought he would come back to Barcelona to take their places.
But only Lin himself knew that he wouldn't return to Barcelona, so he naturally took the opponents' caution in his stride.
Lin's perfect integration and excellent attacking and linking abilities in the midfield greatly boosted the firepower of the main team.
This performance not only won him the respect and admiration of his teammates, but also surprised the head coach of the national youth team, Julen Lopeteguii.
Because Lin was younger than his national youth team teammates, he thought the national team had burdened him by asking him to train this young player.
Unexpectedly, Lin turned out to be a key player, a powerhouse at the level of an elephant or a giant.
His presence perfectly solved the team's problem of lacking a strong finisher in the midfield.
Though he's young, his personal abilities are so strong; he's like a copy of Messi.
And everyone knows how much the Spanish national team desires Messi!
So, without hesitation, he put Lin in the starting lineup and arranged for him to play in the European U21 Championship qualifier against Switzerland.
In this match, Spain's revamped front line displayed formidable attacking firepower, scoring three goals in just the first half against the renowned defensive Swiss team.
The Swiss players were bewildered; that number 10 for the Spanish team was insane, unstoppable in one-on-one situations.
The key was that he not only scored but could also make passes and assists.
Even when they sent two players to mark him, he immediately passed the ball to exploit the gaps in the Swiss defense and allowed his teammates to score.
The other players in the Spanish youth team were also strong, so whenever they had space, they scored.
The Swiss team found themselves in a dilemma—unable to defend, yet unsure of how to attack.
During this match, the players of the Spanish youth team played very comfortably, as if the team had completely changed, like a rusty machine that was now well-lubricated and smooth running.
Many players even felt as if the entire team had changed; the team felt stronger in both attack and defense.
But their opponents, the Swiss youth team, felt awful.
In the Spanish youth team, they saw shadows of Barcelona; their passing system was just like that of Barcelona. Even the number 10 player was almost identical to Messi.
Faced with the terrifying ball control of the Spanish youth team, they could hardly touch the ball and could only run around like headless flies.
The players of the Spanish youth team easily manipulated the Swiss defenders, exposing many loopholes in their defense, resulting in a series of goals.
At halftime, the Spanish youth team had already scored three goals, with a terrifying possession rate of 79%.
Throughout the entire first half, the Swiss team hardly touched the ball.
In the second half, the situation for the Swiss team did not improve, although the Spanish U21 team took it easy.
They only scored two goals in the second half, but Switzerland still had no way to resist.
In the end, the match ended with Lin making two assists and two goals, helping the team win with a score of 5-0.
Poor Switzerland, unable to score a single goal at their home ground, suffered a heavy defeat from the Spanish youth team.
But they weren't the only ones suffering. Four days later, Spain hosted Croatia.
In this match, Spain continued their formidable attacking style.
Although Croatia's national youth team was stronger than Switzerland, they couldn't escape being crushed by Spain.
Lin was on fire in this match, scoring an amazing four goals and providing two assists.
The game ended with Spain winning 7-0 over Croatia, securing an early qualification with eight consecutive victories for the European U21 Championship.
Their terrifying attacking firepower also drew attention from the entire European football scene.
Many fans of various countries began to lament: Spain has won the European Championship and the World Cup, and now their youth team is so terrifying.
Does this mean that the future of European and even global football will be dominated by the Spanish Armada?
But it doesn't seem so pessimistic...
At the same time, in the World Cup qualifiers, facing the weaker Georgia, the Spanish national team struggled to score and won narrowly with Solado finally scoring in the 86th minute.
After this match, the Spanish media had mixed emotions. They sang praises for their national youth team's dominant performance in the European U21 Championship, but were not satisfied with the performance of the senior team in the World Cup qualifiers.
Although they won the game, the team's weak attacking situation remained unchanged. Furthermore, because of the aging of players like Xavi, the team's condition began to deteriorate, causing concern throughout Spain for the upcoming Confederations Cup.
Just at this time, Lin's excellent performance in the youth team attracted media attention, and there were suggestions:
Since the national team's strikers are not performing well, why not invite this talented young forward from the youth team to join and see how he does?
This suggestion sparked a great deal of controversy.
Many were in favor, and many were against, making the recruitment of Lin into the national team a discussion in the entire Spanish country.
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